The district purchased 10 — one for each school — at a price of $8,070. The Russellville Board of Education approved the purchase during its November meeting.

“It adds another layer of security at the front of the building,” Brad Kent, Russellville Middle School assistant principal, said.

Previously, school visitors had to manually type in their name and wait for a background check to be conducted and a badge to printed. This new system will be much faster and more accurate.

"This scan will take approximately two seconds and it will print a yellow visitor badge with the visitor's photo on it," Kent said. "This system will allow a person to simply lay their ID or driver's license on the scanner itself. The system reads the ID or driver's license and runs the background check while printing the photo/name badge."

Maintenance costs for the new system are expected to be "relatively the same" as the old system. The new system's printer may require more ink than the old system required.

Kent said he is unsure how long the KeepNTrack scanners will be used.

"Right now we feel it's a great fit for our district," he said. "However, we will always look at upgrades and the latest tools for keeping our students and staff safe."

Kent said he asks for the public to be patient while the district implements the new procedures.

"Each building will be a little different, but all will have one thing in common — a driver's license or some sort of state ID will need to be brought to school when you plan on visiting," Kent said.

"I know it may seem a little inconvenient at first. However, we are putting this practice and this equipment in place as another tool to help keep our children safe. I want to thank the public in advance for their cooperation and support with this."